Portage Lakes

I've done both the Sprint and the Oly. What are your concerns??

Just be ready for some hills on the bike. The run is pretty flat. The water will be in the mid-70s and will be fine with no wet-suit. The only variable is the weather... like always. First year in the sport, my second race. Nice, sunny, in the 60s at the start. My second year... first Olympic. 34 at race time and barely up to 50 all day. Coming of the bike I could feel my toes. Other years they have had delays for fog. Be prepared to change your plan... and clothing.

I'm about an hour to the east of Akron, so I'm very familiar with the weather. I think for me its just nerves in general. Swimming is not my strongest suit, but I have been practicing as much as I can at Mosquito Lake near me. I'm getting used to the dark water. My hardest part is learning to breathe. That sounds simple enough, but when water is involved for me its a different beast.

How is the swim in Portage Lakes? Are we actually in water over 6 feet? That is the downfall for me swimming at Mosquito. I can touch every where in the beach area, which doesn't help with my training or my mind set.

I'm not worried about the bike at all. This is by far my strongest area. Hills won't bother me at all. I'll eventually get up them. Plus, I'm bringing my Jamis Aurora which is a touring bike so I'll always have my granny gears if they are too bad.

As far as the run, flat course is good. If nothing else, I can always walk. Swimming I can only swim or drown. lol. Do you recommend a tri suit and wear that through out the whole event? This is my main area of confusion is clothing. What's ideal? What's your thoughts?

Portage Lakes will be my first triathlon, too!  I'm going to do the sprint distance.

I've been running for a while, and I have done swimming when I've been injured, but I'm just now getting into cycling.

I'm pretty excited, too!

It is a nice compact race in that anyone who comes with you can see alot of you on the swim and run (double loop).

I second the weather comments I had some very chilly toes and legs last year.

I think the water might get deeper than 6 feet but visibility is very poor anyway so I couldnt tell if the water was 3 feet or 1000 feet deep. I know one leg of the swim course was parallel to the shore and I think I remember some folks standing up.

I might be doing it again this year. It will probably start a few minutes late but HFP puts on a pretty solid basic race so you should get to experience everything a normal triathlon has with this one.

Re: Gear
First time I just used the same jammers that I trained in. I would fuss with putting on a shirt in transition. It worked just fine... but it was just a big waste of time. I was pushing 2:30 - 3:00min in T1, which in a sprint is way too much time. I now wear a tri-top and bottom. The bottom has padding for the bike, the top is snug so you don't get drag and has a back pocket for gels if you need them. No changing, no fussing. I do put on socks... but those you just roll up to the toe and slip on. No matter what you do... practice your transition. Lay out your stuff like you think you should for the race at the pool. Go swim 4 laps and jump out and try to transition. You will be a little winded and you will start to understand race conditions a little better. You will learn a lot on how you need to lay things out and what does and does not work.

Because you know the weather in September Just in case I will always bring a long sleeve shirt or cycling jacket and be expecting to throw those quick transition times out the window due to putting stuff on soaking wet

Re: Swim
The water is dark like Mosquito Lake and you will need to be able to sight off of bouys and other racers. The course does take you into deeper water where you cannot touch. I would definately get an open-water swim or two in the tank to get experience.

Biggest tip I can give you... Your heart rate is going to be through the roof at the start of the race. Try to calm yourself down and race your own race like a hard training day. I know that at the start of the swim I have trouble finding my stroke because I am already breathing harder than I should. I just have to calm myself down and race my race. Otherwise my form goes to the crapper, I start breathing off tempo and get winded.

Good Luck training...

Portage Lakes swimming generally has poor visibility and the lake I usually swim there was dredged so gets very deep. Also, depending on weather it can get wavy. Should be fun. I'll eithr er do Portage or Vermillion.

That's awesome! May you have your best day.

-John